but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

a

And this higher life which thus earnestly seeks an immortal inheritance is likewise twofold. It is not only a trial of faith and charity, but it is also a preparation for that season in which those "which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." That study, therefore, is not of light value which teaches us how knowledge here obtained may influence our state hereafter; that study by which we learn carefully to distinguish that which relates solely to the present life, and will perish with it, from that which is not only coexistent with the continuance of time, but also embraces the whole duration of eternity.

The objects of sense, and the organs essential to their proper enjoyment, depend upon each other, and are mutually adapted. At least a portion of these material objects, and the corresponding modes of perception, will pass away. Many causes of sensible pleasure and pain have arisen from the spread of civilisation, and have

a Rom. viii. 8.; Gal. v. 16., vi. 8. b Rev. vii. 14. 16.

increased far beyond the original provision of nature; but they are of man's formation, and, whether they be useful or the reverse, necessary or artificial, all are temporary. The knowledge, therefore, which is applicable to their consideration can be but evanescent, and will hereafter become useless. "But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." "

a

Concentration of thought upon subjects the most abstract may with some fail to produce any tangible result, any result of practical benefit; but by it alone can man exercise, to its fullest extent, his power of reasoning-that most noble attribute, which entitles him to his proud pre-eminence over all created beings. We must, however, emphatically deny that this absence of useful application is inevitable; we believe that great good may be derived from the unflinching

a 1 Cor. vii. 29.

prosecution of such inquiry, and we look forward with confidence to a time when the importance of these subjects will be more generally acknowledged. This branch of study already possesses the sanction of antiquity, for Aristotle has said that when the investigation of subjects demanding the purest intellectual research is conducted with propriety, the inquirer is raised above mere physical knowledge, and is carried into the highest domains of science. But it has been reserved to the Christian alone to reject at once that which is opposed to revelation, and thus to define the extent of those regions to which the mind of man may aspire.

In those calm moments when the soul holds communion with herself, desire for information attains its most ample development. It is amid the solitude of the mountain fastness, and under the dark star-lit vault of heaven, that in midnight meditation this eager craving is felt within us, and the immortal spirit yearns for the knowledge of truth. Then it is that we fully feel that our body "is of the earth, earthy;" that, in its present form, it acts as an obstruction to the aspiration of the soul; and that, by its present wants, it continually compels us to

withdraw from the contemplation of heavenly things, and to direct our thoughts towards those which are temporary. This earnest contemplation of visible and invisible Being produces that disposition of mind which assists us in attaining and appreciating the highest intellectual and moral development; but, above all, it is eminently calculated to induce us trustfully to look forward to that time to come when all doubt shall be dispersed, and it powerfully strengthens the belief that our future state of bliss will not be one in which the pleasure of sense will be exalted, but will rather be a state in which all the mysteries of creation shall be made clear. Thus, while this application of the powers of the mind brings forcibly before us the many deep things which lie hidden beneath the surface, and brings home to our perception our own great want of knowledge as to their nature, it raises up an eager hope and craving for satisfaction; it points out the mode in which preparation is to be made for the reception of truth, and, with Divine guidance, it may possibly be a foretaste of that eternity in which the full flood of light shall be poured forth upon those who shall have walked worthily in the season of difficulty.

The bold swimmer delights to breast the curling breakers, and thus prove his mastery over the rage of ocean. The rower, conscious of power and confident in skill, steers his frail bark amid contending currents, and carries her with safety over the broken waters. The man of cultivated mind, accustomed to turn his thoughts inwardly upon self-examination, and thus reflect upon their inmost nature, finds his own reward in conscious improvement, while all rejoice exultingly in the proud feeling of success over difficulty. But when the spirit of man rises to the contemplation of the hidden mysteries of Being, and when, with each return from the regions of the Ideal, she wings her flight with increasing confidence, and gains new courage as the multiplying stores of knowledge are poured forth, what language can describe her ecstasy!

Thus would I answer those who assert that this branch of study is without aim or purpose. But there is one other consequence, which only becomes apparent as we continue to accustom ourselves to reflect upon these questions, as our thoughts consequently acquire a tendency to shape themselves in a particular form, and as we